DAVID HYUNGBOK KIM
2001 HUMANITARIAN AWARD
Holt International Children’s Services
Bulgaria, Kenya, South Korea, Haiti and Uganda
David Hyungbok Kim has devoted more than 45 years of his life to serving homeless, abandoned and orphaned children in more than 25 countries through Holt International Children’s Services. He began working as a Korean assistant to organizational founder Harry Holt in 1953 as a college sophomore. Since then, his many accomplishments include the creation of a foster home program in Korea, service as a U.S. representative to the Hague Conference on International Law and the establishment of ethical child welfare and international adoption practices benefiting tens of thousands of orphaned children each year.
Since Kim became an Honoree for the World of Children, Holt International Children’s Services has expanded child welfare services in Bulgaria, Uganda and Haiti. Dr. David Hyungbok Kim, who alongside Harry and Bertha Holt pioneered the modern practice of international adoption, died in 2018.